Oberlin College

<p>My daughter is a first year student at Oberlin College and it seems like a great place for an intelligent, independent student!</p>

<p>We live in OR. Son's HS music teacher son went to Oberlin. Teacher said that Reed is far tamer than Oberlin. All is heresay.</p>

<p>Oh, BTW, Welcome. We all would like to know more about Oberlin. My info is a bit dated. Lots of topics to discuss about schools, nonschools, and stuff.</p>

<p>Obe is awesome</p>

<p>My son just started there as well. I have a nephew at Reed. They schools are different, but I would not say that Oberlin is significantly wilder than Reed.</p>

<p>I thought Reed was pretty wild. One of my friends just participated in a "naked party". I guess both places have it.</p>

<p>Teacher said that Reed is far tamer than Oberlin. All is heresay.</p>

<p>I know they have different ideas about US News rankings
I dont really know much about it- other than I met a married couple who went to Evergreen/Oberlin, and the one who went to Oberlin was an elitist snob- I wouldnt' hold that against Oberlin though</p>

<p>My daughter's Oberlin friends do not seem like elitist snobs to me.</p>

<p>THere ARE some school's graduates that seem, from my personal experiences, to include a high proportion of elitist snobs. But it isn't Oberlin.</p>

<p>"Animal House" was filmed at Reed College.</p>

<p>Reed is a very picturesque campus( Robert Benton* Kramer vs Kramer-Ice Harvest* & Morgan Freeman- just finished shooting a film on campus & Sean Penn has been recently seen scouting the location as well) but Delta Tau Chi which was used for the exterior Animal House shots was at U of O ( and no longer standing...coincidence?) </p>

<p>Rumor has it that the University president only allowed shooting because he didn't know how to read a screenplay </p>

<p>However- spread the rumour- the students would probably love it if they know who John Belushi was .</p>

<p>And for the record- I didn't say that Oberlin taught students how to be pretentious- I have never heard anything but praise for the academics.
But like many very expensive schools ( including my daughters) it certainly is possible that they attract students who equate net worth, with * worth*</p>

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"Animal House" was filmed at Reed College.

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<p>You're joking, right? Animal House, the archetypical frat film, was filmed at Reed, which has never had fraternities?</p>

<p>Nah. Animal House was based on Dartmouth frats.</p>

<p>Kitty, I am pretty sure that I heard actor Tim Matheson during a '20th Anniversary' commemoration TV interview say that they filmed at Reed. Maybe just the exterior shots were done at U of O.(?) I could be wrong. Let's ask Senator Blutarksy. LOL.</p>

<p>I'd love to hear more about Oberlin...and Reed. My H was (is) an Obie, but that was a looong time ago. He loved it. I think both schools have a slightly wild side. Reedies seem to pride themselves on nerdiness, but our tour guide at Oberlin described Obies a "pretty dorky".</p>

<p>Here are my impressions of the 2 schools:</p>

<p>Reed is a socially liberal and educationally conservative. All students must take the Humanities sequence freshman year, regardless of major. First semester focuses on Greek culture and literature, second semester on Roman. The reading list is extensive and it is a very intensive class. There are other required courses as well. Reed also has a senior capstone project required for every students. These projects are very indepth and require a lot of time during senior year. Reed takes great pride in its intellectual environment. Reedies will tell you that they work harder than students at any other colleges. When we toured, my son asked if Reed had an outdoor club. The tour guide responded "Yes, but who has time?" Reed is in Portland and it is fairly easy to access all that that city has to offer.</p>

<p>Oberlin has a more flexible curriculum that requires students to take a certain number of credits in humanities, social sciences, and science and math, but it does not require any specific classes. The conservatory attracts students who love music even if they don't intend to major in it. Oberlin also boasts of having one of the best college art museums in the country and loans out artwork to students. Art and music are integral parts of the campus culture. Senior capstone projects are available but not required. Oberlin also has a January term that students must participate in for 3 of the 4 years they are in school. J-term projects are very wide ranging and do not have to have anything to do with your major, but they can be major specific if desired. Oberlin prides itself in being a socially aware school. It is located in a small town that is about 45 minutes from Cleveland. Students can get a bus to the Cleveland airport where they can hook into city transportation to get downtown if they desire.</p>

<p>Both schools send high numbers of students on to Ph.D and professional programs. Both schools have "druggie" reputations, but I think the reputation is greater than the reality at both places. Both schools will be a great fit for the right kid, but will not appeal to everyone. Oberlin has more students and the conservatory definitely adds a dimension not as available at Reed. On the other hand, Reed benefits from being in a terrific city. Reed's classical education will appeal greatly to some kids and turn others off completely.</p>

<p>shennie gave an excellent description of Reed; I have/have had two kids there and it's all true. I'd like to add that the "classical" education serves as a jumping-off point for contemporary liberal thinking, lest you harbor the notion that "classical" equals politically conservative.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/trivia%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/trivia&lt;/a>
that was where I was getting the Animal House trivia</p>

<p>Oberlin of course is very well known for it music conservatory- although there again, unfortunately my impression of Oberlin was also colored by a former friend of my daughters( @ Reed) whose parent is a music prof at Oberlin.</p>

<p>I don't happen to share the opinion that having parents who are profs/professional musicians, makes one a better person than one whose parents who are not * artistes*</p>

<p>I also think that along with being young- some of it( in that case) was also a tendency to label the East Coast as intellectual & the West Coast as aspiring to be the "East coast"</p>

<p>Im really not looking for negative examples- coming from the West coast I just don't know alot of people who attended college in Ohio.</p>

<p>I joyfully clicked on this thread hoping to find out more about Oberlin College, which is one campus D and I visited recently. How did the comparison to Reed get started? Funny though, I'm considering both schools for my Junior son (Reed being my early favorite), but only Obie for my daughter. Mostly because of majors, BTW.</p>

<p>Celloguy, I have to agree with you. I'm not sure where Animal House was filmed, but I distinctly remember it being based on Dartmouth frats. As far as I know, Reed doesn't have any frats?</p>

<p>EK, I have read your posts and applauded them....you provide great insight in many aspects...and I think you have a Reedie, yes? And I think it's hilarious for anyone to think that the West Coast "aspires" to be East Coast, educationally or any other way. Heh. </p>

<p>I don't know anyone who's an Obie graduate, but the one Reedie that I know has his Ph.D. from....yep, you guessed it....MIT. In short, both of these schools are high on my radar for my DKs....but I just wonder how the comparison of Oberlin vs. Reed got started practially as soon as the OP posted....</p>

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I just wonder how the comparison of Oberlin vs. Reed got started practially as soon as the OP posted

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<p>Serendipity! No, really, I was surprised too. I've always linked the two in my mind and I have absolutely no idea why. PFM?</p>

<p>I think the 2nd post made the comparison because they are from Oregon- and sons music teacher went to Oberlin but are interested in Oberlin, probably because of the music emphasis
It may be the kind of "quirky" school that attracts similar students?
except my Princeton Review says students who apply to Oberlin
also look at
Amherst
Bard
Boston University
Brown
Carleton
Cornell
Grinell
Hampshire
Haverford
Kenyon
so those schools sound- a little different from the ones that Reedies apply to
But there is some overlap I guess with the clove/potsmoking atheists who are nostalgic for Clinton and who don't play sports. @ least from teh Princeton reviews POV</p>

<p>Hmmm.....I would imagine from the above post, with the stereotypes PR loves to list, that a student applying to one of those woudl feel comfortable applying to all of the above. Academically, there's quite a spread? Haverford.....Hampshire?</p>

<p>While I have never personally worn Birkenstocks, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that my fellow students back in the 80's at our Very Large Public University put to shame all the "pot/clovesmokers" or whatever gets ranked at PR in those categories these days. Heh. And we never even heard of Bill Clinton back then.</p>